So when I had planned on making the Zucchini Casserole last week, I misread the ingredients before going to the store, and lets just say I ended up buying WAY too much zucchini. So I was in search of another recipe so I could use the rest of it all up.
I had heard of zucchini bread before and a lot of people really like it. I looked up a recipe and it just so happened that I had everything I needed in my pantry (crazy!), so I decided to try it.
I am not impressed. It's not that it was bad, but it wasn't good either. It was very blah. Not very sweet, not much flavor, and really not much of anything except a waste of my time and food. IF someone were to give me a different recipe and swear up and down that it really is good their way, I would try it again. But other than that, I wont be trying this again.
Here is the link to the recipe I used, yuck!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Bread/Detail.aspx
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
New Recipe: Zucchini Casserole
I'm a little late in posting this, but I tried this new recipe on Friday night, and while it needs some perfecting, it definitely has potential to be great. When I found this recipe online, it was actually a vegetarian meal, but my husband doesn't think anything is a true meal if it doesn't have meat in it, so I added chicken to it for his sake. I will say, if there are only 2 or 3 of you that will be eating this, then DEFINITELY cut the recipe in half.
Ingredients:
6 cups diced zucchini
2 cups diced yellow squash
4 cups cubed chicken, pre-cooked
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup cornflakes cereal
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
preferred seasonings (mine were salt, pepper, garlic salt, crushed red pepper flakes, Mrs. Dash seasoning)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, onion, cornflakes, cheese, oil, basil, seasonings, and eggs. Spread evenly into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Add cheese to the top and cook an additional 10 minutes.
My advice is to go overboard on the seasonings. When I made this it was very good, but needed more flavor. Even with all of the different seasonings I used, it was a little bland. I also added tomatoes to mine because I had them already chopped up in my refrigerator. Basically, most vegetables will work with this, so use whatever you have around the house.
Ingredients:
6 cups diced zucchini
2 cups diced yellow squash
4 cups cubed chicken, pre-cooked
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup cornflakes cereal
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
preferred seasonings (mine were salt, pepper, garlic salt, crushed red pepper flakes, Mrs. Dash seasoning)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, onion, cornflakes, cheese, oil, basil, seasonings, and eggs. Spread evenly into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Add cheese to the top and cook an additional 10 minutes.
My advice is to go overboard on the seasonings. When I made this it was very good, but needed more flavor. Even with all of the different seasonings I used, it was a little bland. I also added tomatoes to mine because I had them already chopped up in my refrigerator. Basically, most vegetables will work with this, so use whatever you have around the house.
Friday, April 22, 2011
My search efforts
Saturday, April 16, 2011
New Recipe of the Week: Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew
I LOVE meals that I can cook in the crockpot! Not ideal every night of course, but as much as I do love to cook, it is nice to pretty much have dinner ready when I get home from work every now and then. That is what made this recipe appealing. And while it was good, it definitely needs some work. I will try it again sometime, after I figure out what changes I need to make. Since I like things spicy, it definitely needs more seasonings to kick up the flavor. I'm thinking possibly add some hot sauce into the soup mixture for more kick, and whatever random seasonings I have around the house.The consistency was very good though, so I wouldn't mess with that at all. I will keep thinking on this and try again sometime. Oh, and if there are only 2 of you, definitely cut the recipe in half, and you will still have plenty for leftovers.
Ingredients:
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 (8 oz) package baby carrots
1 can mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can chicken broth
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 (16 oz) bag frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
biscuits
Directions:
1. Combine the chicken, carrots, mushrooms, onion, celery, soups, chicken broth, garlic salt, celery salt, and black pepper in a slow cooker; cook on Low for 5 hours.
2. Stir the frozen mixed vegetables into the slow cooker, and cook 1 more hour.
3. For the last 15 minutes, add flour and water mixture to thicken up.
4. Serve over biscuits.
Ingredients:
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 (8 oz) package baby carrots
1 can mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can chicken broth
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 (16 oz) bag frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
biscuits
Directions:
1. Combine the chicken, carrots, mushrooms, onion, celery, soups, chicken broth, garlic salt, celery salt, and black pepper in a slow cooker; cook on Low for 5 hours.
2. Stir the frozen mixed vegetables into the slow cooker, and cook 1 more hour.
3. For the last 15 minutes, add flour and water mixture to thicken up.
4. Serve over biscuits.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Recipe: Stuffed Green Bell Peppers
So someone suggested I post my favorite recipe of all time. Well, that would be impossible because I can't pick just one. But here is one of my favorite recipes that is relatively new to me, and I'm actually in the process of making it for dinner right now.
Ingredients:
6 green bell peppers
salt to taste
1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14.5 oz) can Hunt's Fire Roasted Tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed tomato soup
Pace Picante
Assorted spices depending on the flavor you want (I use chili powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper)
water as needed
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute beef and onions until beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt, pepper and assorted spices. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water, and Louisiana hot sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Stuff each pepper with the beef and rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup with just enough water to make the soup a gravy consistency. Pour over the peppers.
4. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly and enjoy.
A couple of notes that I find to be helpful. I put the pot of water on the stove first since it takes a while to boil. After that while I wait, I get the meat cooking and then chop up the onions and add when I am done. I also add some chopped up jalapenos because I like things spicy. I also go ahead and preheat the oven so it's ready when I am. (Some of these things may seem like silly suggestions, but I know that when I first started cooking I didn't think to do them, so I hope it is helpful to someone. If not, then just ignore this entire section) Now, on the tomato soup/water mixture...I still have not perfected this. I personally don't care for just tomato soup on it. I have tried substituting it for the Pace Picante, and I have tried doing half Pace and half tomato soup. All ways are okay, I just feel like it could be better and I haven't found the perfect solution yet. But trust me, if I ever do, I will post it here :-) I'm thinking maybe mixing sour cream in with tomato soup might be interesting...too bad I didn't plan for that tonight and don't believe I have any sour cream. Maybe next time.
Ingredients:
6 green bell peppers
salt to taste
1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14.5 oz) can Hunt's Fire Roasted Tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed tomato soup
Pace Picante
Assorted spices depending on the flavor you want (I use chili powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper)
water as needed
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute beef and onions until beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt, pepper and assorted spices. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water, and Louisiana hot sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Stuff each pepper with the beef and rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup with just enough water to make the soup a gravy consistency. Pour over the peppers.
4. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly and enjoy.
A couple of notes that I find to be helpful. I put the pot of water on the stove first since it takes a while to boil. After that while I wait, I get the meat cooking and then chop up the onions and add when I am done. I also add some chopped up jalapenos because I like things spicy. I also go ahead and preheat the oven so it's ready when I am. (Some of these things may seem like silly suggestions, but I know that when I first started cooking I didn't think to do them, so I hope it is helpful to someone. If not, then just ignore this entire section) Now, on the tomato soup/water mixture...I still have not perfected this. I personally don't care for just tomato soup on it. I have tried substituting it for the Pace Picante, and I have tried doing half Pace and half tomato soup. All ways are okay, I just feel like it could be better and I haven't found the perfect solution yet. But trust me, if I ever do, I will post it here :-) I'm thinking maybe mixing sour cream in with tomato soup might be interesting...too bad I didn't plan for that tonight and don't believe I have any sour cream. Maybe next time.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Restaurant Review: Zena Sushi
We tried a new sushi place the other day. We found it on urbanspoon and the reviews were mixed. Some raved about it, while others basically said it was the most horrible place ever. We decided to try it anyway, and I am convinced that the people who gave it bad reviews are either complete idiots, or total divas. They complained that the service was terrible, the wait was ridiculous, and the food was bad. Our experience was quite the opposite.
We went right at dinner time on a Saturday night and didn't have to wait. Our server was amazing. She checked on us several times and made sure that we were very happy. We sat at the bar so we could see everything being made, and every time something looked good we asked her what it was and what all was in it and she was very informative and knowledgeable. Our food came out within a decent timeframe. I guess the only bad thing I have to say is that our food came out separately. I had my meal for a few minutes before Danny received his, but it wasn't a ridiculous amount of time before.
The food...AMAZING! I think that was quite possibly the best sushi I have ever had! Now, I'm still new to the sushi thing; Danny only talked me into trying it about a year ago. But we have been to a few different places and this one is definitely my favorite. I have been craving sushi again ever since we walked out the door.
Oh, and another plus about this place is they don't have a liquor license yet, so our drinks were free. Of course that will change, but it was definitely an added bonus to our already wonderful experience. We will definitely be going back, hopefully soon!
I wish I had thought to take a picture of my food, but it looked so good that taking a picture was the furthest thing from my mind. I will try and get better at that.
Here's the address for anyone who may want to check it out:
Zena Sushi
1101 Melbourne Rd
Hurst, TX 76053
We went right at dinner time on a Saturday night and didn't have to wait. Our server was amazing. She checked on us several times and made sure that we were very happy. We sat at the bar so we could see everything being made, and every time something looked good we asked her what it was and what all was in it and she was very informative and knowledgeable. Our food came out within a decent timeframe. I guess the only bad thing I have to say is that our food came out separately. I had my meal for a few minutes before Danny received his, but it wasn't a ridiculous amount of time before.
The food...AMAZING! I think that was quite possibly the best sushi I have ever had! Now, I'm still new to the sushi thing; Danny only talked me into trying it about a year ago. But we have been to a few different places and this one is definitely my favorite. I have been craving sushi again ever since we walked out the door.
Oh, and another plus about this place is they don't have a liquor license yet, so our drinks were free. Of course that will change, but it was definitely an added bonus to our already wonderful experience. We will definitely be going back, hopefully soon!
I wish I had thought to take a picture of my food, but it looked so good that taking a picture was the furthest thing from my mind. I will try and get better at that.
Here's the address for anyone who may want to check it out:
Zena Sushi
1101 Melbourne Rd
Hurst, TX 76053
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Figuring this out
Well, here it is, my first blog post. I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out, so if you are reading, please bear with me.
I guess I will start with what I plan to use this blog for. Erin's Food Adventures will be my experiences with food. Cooking, finding recipes, making changes to recipes, trying new restaurants and reviewing them, and whatever else I discover about food along the way that I decide to talk about. I'm going to do my best to bring you into my world of food. I love to cook (though admittedly, I am not the best at it), and I guess you could say that my New Year's Resolution was to try at least 1 new recipe every week. So far, I have pretty much stuck to it. I think there was a week or 2 that I wasn't able to keep this "resolution," but I made up for it the following week by cooking 2 new things.
My husband, Danny and I also like to try new restaurants every now and then, so I will be writing about those experiences. He seems to be pretty excited about my decision to blog, and wants me to be able to do it while sitting at a restaurant. So he found some blogger app for my phone and has figured out how to use it and I'm sure he will have a hand in any of my on the go posts. For the record, I am technology challenged, so anything cool I might seem to do in that regard is all him figuring it out, being patient with me, and doing his best to teach me.
I won't be posting every single day, as I said I only try one new recipe a week, but my goal with this is to post twice a week. Some weeks my experiences may be slow or too boring to write about in my opinion, and in that case I will reminisce about past experiences.
Oh, and if anyone ever has any restaurants suggestions, or recipe suggestions, please let me know. A couple of stipulations on the recipes though...I will NOT cook anything with pork of any kind, and unless it is tilapia or shrimp, I'm not really big on the seafood thing, though I am definitely more open to try that than anything with pork. Oh, and Danny isn't big on pasta, and since I cook for him, I do attempt to stay away from too much pasta, though I do still cook it on occasion.
Well, I guess that's it for my first post. I hope everyone is interested or excited about what this blog is going to be about. I might post another later today about last weeks new recipe as it was a major hit; it really just depends on how much time I end up having later.
Until next time!
I guess I will start with what I plan to use this blog for. Erin's Food Adventures will be my experiences with food. Cooking, finding recipes, making changes to recipes, trying new restaurants and reviewing them, and whatever else I discover about food along the way that I decide to talk about. I'm going to do my best to bring you into my world of food. I love to cook (though admittedly, I am not the best at it), and I guess you could say that my New Year's Resolution was to try at least 1 new recipe every week. So far, I have pretty much stuck to it. I think there was a week or 2 that I wasn't able to keep this "resolution," but I made up for it the following week by cooking 2 new things.
My husband, Danny and I also like to try new restaurants every now and then, so I will be writing about those experiences. He seems to be pretty excited about my decision to blog, and wants me to be able to do it while sitting at a restaurant. So he found some blogger app for my phone and has figured out how to use it and I'm sure he will have a hand in any of my on the go posts. For the record, I am technology challenged, so anything cool I might seem to do in that regard is all him figuring it out, being patient with me, and doing his best to teach me.
I won't be posting every single day, as I said I only try one new recipe a week, but my goal with this is to post twice a week. Some weeks my experiences may be slow or too boring to write about in my opinion, and in that case I will reminisce about past experiences.
Oh, and if anyone ever has any restaurants suggestions, or recipe suggestions, please let me know. A couple of stipulations on the recipes though...I will NOT cook anything with pork of any kind, and unless it is tilapia or shrimp, I'm not really big on the seafood thing, though I am definitely more open to try that than anything with pork. Oh, and Danny isn't big on pasta, and since I cook for him, I do attempt to stay away from too much pasta, though I do still cook it on occasion.
Well, I guess that's it for my first post. I hope everyone is interested or excited about what this blog is going to be about. I might post another later today about last weeks new recipe as it was a major hit; it really just depends on how much time I end up having later.
Until next time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)